It seemed like
another non-stop month with one event after another. The first
event of the month was the Museum Ships Amateur Radio Weekend. This
annual event is sponsored by The Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio
Station. For ten years, the Museum Ships Weekend has brought together
radio amateur (ham) operators broadcasting from historic museum ships
around the world. When telephone lines are disrupted and regular
commercial power is off (and even the Internet is down) amateur radio
operators throughout the world have demonstrated their unique ability
to handle emergency communications using their own radio equipment
and power generators to assist government agencies at all levels.
Among SLATER's volunteer crewmembers are four licensed radio "ham"
operators.
This year 78 ships
were registered for the event. Many were from the United States, but
others that were transmitting included museum ships in Germany,
England, Canada, and Portugal. Our own radiomen Joe Breyer
RM1, N2LL, Mike Wyles KE2EE, Don Montrym, ET2, W1IBC,
Jerry Jones, ET1, K2AYM, and Bob Kibbey, SWL completed
last minute details including completing the ship’s antenna
connections to WWII short wave receivers and getting two RBB and RBC
receivers in operation. The event ran for 35 hours with the objective
of making radio contact with as many of the 78 participating ships as
possible. This was to have been the first real test of our (new)
800-pound TBL transmitter rescued from USS CLAMP ASR33 in San
Francisco Bay by volunteers from USS PAMPANITO, and extensively
overhauled, restored and tested by Tom Horsfall. First tested
in April, it was extensively “shaken down” for 2 months and
declared to be “bullet proof” and ready for the Museum Ships
radio event. However, just an hour into the contest the antenna
current dropped from 5 amps to zero! Big Problem--No output! All
control circuits were okay and all meter readings normal, except no
carrier. No fuses blown, no overloads or interlocks tripped, high
voltage generator was putting out 2000 volts. The backup plan using
modern transceivers and voice communication was put into effect while
the TBL problem was diagnosed.
That happened at
1830 when they noticed after visual inspection that there was no
spacing between plates in the oscillator plate tank capacitor.
To make a long story (pardon the pun) short, it was finally
discovered that a lock nut on a spacing adjuster was loose (possibly
since WWII). This allowed the plate spacing to gradually decrease
over a long period of time (probably years) and finally short-circuit
the capacitor. Results: After 30-some man-hours of “failure mode
analysis” by several well-qualified technicians with a hundred
man-years of experience, the problem was corrected in two technician
minutes. TBL is restored to operation as it was at 1000 hours 6 June
2011. Wasn’t it the old Brooklyn Dodgers who always said “just
wait ‘til next year!” In the process everyone gained a renewed
respect for the young men who operated and maintained equipment like
this, frequently under battle conditions, during the past wars.
Ken Kaskoun and the
SLATER ceremonial crew had a busy month. On Saturday June 17th
we observed our 14th annual DE Day
commemoration here in Albany. The Director of New York State
Veterans Affairs Bill Kraus read the Governor’s Proclamation
that declared the third Saturday in June to be recognized and
celebrated nationwide as Destroyer Escort Day. On this day we pay
homage to the Destroyer Escort sailors killed in World War II, Korea,
Vietnam and the Cold War years and to the ten Destroyer Escort ships
lost in action. We honored the over 150,000 men served in destroyer
escorts during World War II and through the Vietnam War. Though their
numbers are dwindling, ten DE veterans were present for the ceremony
including Doc Dachenhauser, John Fautz, Don Justus, Ron Mazure,
Stan McMillian, Bob Nolte, Hank Rizzo, Bill Scharoun, Rocky Rockwood,
Bill Archibald came up from Jersey with his sons; and
three crew members from the USS THADDEUS PARKER
DE367, Laird Confer, Gary Zlab, and
Clarence Parker. Also present in the
color guard were DE vets Larry
Williams, Don
Shattuck and Paul
Czesak. These men dropped
carnations into the water for each DE lost in action in honor of
their lost shipmates. USS SLATER, now being considered for
National Landmark status, is the last DE afloat in America. She is a
fitting tribute to so many sailors who gave so much for their country
in its time of need. Bill Scharoun organized the ceremony
which was sponsored by the Capital District Chapter of DESA and the
USS SLATER Volunteers. The event was commemorated with Taps and a
volley from USS SLATER’s cannon.
The first weekend in
June, Paul Czesak, Don Shattuck, Linda Wruck, Bill Siebert, Laird
Confer and Chief Smith traveled to Pennsylvania to represent us at
the Annual Reading Air Show. That same weekend we also hosted a
retirement ceremony for Captain Michael Nevins. Later in the
month we hosted a special tour for all volunteers who work aboard the
museum destroyer USS CASSIN YOUNG DD793 located at the Boston
National Historic Park. It was great to compare notes with a similar
group of dedicated preservationists. Speaking of dedicated
preservationists, two of our most dedicated volunteers Dick and
Maralyn Walker were honored by the Port of Albany for their
service with the Albany Maritime Ministry. The Ministry is an
all-volunteer ecumenical group that strives to meet the spiritual and
practical needs of merchant seafarers and fisherman arriving in and
around the Port of Albany. Founded in 1996, this ministry, under the
leadership of Rev. Dr. William Hempel of St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church, works closely with various Capital District churches, the
business community and city, state and federal agencies to provide
needed services to visiting seafarers. This was part of the formal
commemoration of National Maritime Day which took place aboard USS
SLATER at 1630 on Sunday, June 19th. Dick and Maralyn
have been active volunteers with Albany Maritime Ministry for more
than a dozen years. During that time, they have been the face
of the Ministry all along the Hudson from Albany to Catskill doing
everything imaginable - going aboard countless vessels in all kinds
of weather, driving, scheduling volunteers, keeping records and
serving as President of the Board. In addition to all that they
have been and done for AMM, they have managed to find time to serve
as Deacons at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Berne, volunteers at Good
Samaritan Home, Delmar; and active volunteers in the USS SLATER
organization.
The Education
Department continues to evolve. The Briefing Room is not only a
library of reading material, this is where we begin all tours with a
7-minute video to introduce the significance of the Battle of the
Atlantic and the Destroyer Escort in World War II. Our tour guides
now have laminated maps that illustrate the “Allied Shipping
Losses” spanning September 1939 to May 1943. Visitors witness the
shift from “Germany and German-occupied Territory” to “Axis and
Axis-occupied Territory;” follow the change from “convoy routes,
escorted; convoy routes, unescorted” to simply “convoy routes.”
By April of 1941, air cover zones had become part of the battle
plan, increasing their territories by August 1942. We see the defeat
of the Axis Powers in North Africa along with an increase in U-boat
sinkings. It’s all very exciting to follow the Allies with each
pulse forward, against the Axis.
Through the
dedication of archives volunteer Frank Peter, the Education
Department has a large amount of digitized information pulled
directly from SLATER’s collections, on the only World War II
warship manned by an African-American crew. The Destroyer Escort
USS MASON DE529, escorted six convoys
across the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic, ensuring the safe
arrival of precious cargo into European ports at the battle front.
The MASON was nicknamed “Eleanor’s Folly,” in reference to
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s determination to desegregate the
armed forces. The First Lady’s work paved the way for the
successful integration of the military under President Harry S
Truman.
Linda Wruck is
developing an educators’ kit based on the story of the MASON, to
teach about the equally significant contributions of black and white
sailors in the fight, the course of the Battle of the Atlantic, and
Destroyer Escort history. The educators’ kit, "Who is an
American?" Racism and Segregation in the Military also
highlights the first ship, a Destroyer Escort, named in honor of an
African-American sailor, Mess Cook First Class Leonard Roy Harmon,
killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. He and Frank O.
Slater, our own DE’s namesake, were shipmates and both were killed
during this battle on the USS SAN FRANCISCO. The connection among
the HARMON, the MASON, and the SLATER is a solid platform that
demonstrates the very nature of First Lady Roosevelt’s goal; Seaman
Harmon was a Mess Cook when he was killed in service, but by the time
the MASON launched only one year after the Battle of Guadalcanal, it
was manned by an African-American crew not limited by race to duties
of mess cook. The Destroyer Escort is the turning point of
desegregation in the United States Navy. Call it what you will, but
Eleanor’s Folly was a tremendous success.
Maintenance received
another big boost this month from the real Navy. On Tuesday June
21, we again got some help from the Navy Nuclear Power Training Unit
in Ballston Spa. In fact, we got more than we bargained for. Our
coordinator Chief Owen Hooper had set up a work day for an
estimated 10-15 machinist mates and electrician trainees who were in
between classes, so we laid out work for 10-15 helpers. Well, they
must be really bored up there. The first cars started to pull into
the lot around 0830. Erik set the first group up on the gangway to
scale and paint it. The second group came in and we set them up with
life jackets and the paint float, to continue working on the
starboard boottop. But cars kept coming and more and more sailors
kept reporting aboard. When all was said and done over forty sailors
had signed in the log book and were massed on the fantail waiting for
assignments.
We scrambled to find
something for them to do. First up, Rich Pavlovic had them
remove a 20mm gun from mount 28 on the fantail for preservation. Then
we split them into equal groups. I took one group into B-3 and told
them to clean the space like they were getting it ready for
inspection. Erik Collin took another group into the aft
berthing space C-201L and set them up pumping and drying out the
shaft alleys. I took a third group into B-4 and set them up where the
HUSE crew had been scaling the forward bulkhead. I had them finish
scaling, vacuuming and had them paint it out white. I then set up
another crew on the lower level vacuuming the bilges and painting the
spaces with red primer. Erik brought another group down into B-4 and
set them up on the aft bulkhead lower level scaling the fuel oil
transfer manifolds and the adjacent bulkheads. By 0930 we had
everybody doing something.
The guy who had the
biggest challenge and rose to the occasion was Chief Bernie Smith.
Smitty had agreed to prepare lunch for anticipated fifteen. When
forty showed up he really had to punt. He had his macaroni and meat
sauce special. Fortunately, thanks to the foresight of one William
Douglas Tanner, there were several boxes of macaroni and another
jar of tomato sauce in the pantry, so Smitty was able to triple the
order and cut the watermelon smaller. It all worked out. And in the
end we had a freshly painted gangway, two dry shaft alleys, two clean
machinery spaces with a lot of nice fresh paint, the fuel oil
transfer manifold ready to paint; and, they were probably the only US
Sailors who have loaded a depth charge projector in the past thirty
years. Well done Sailors.
The local
maintenance crew continues working on the relocation of the
accommodation ladder back to its original position on the port side
amidships. As I write, Dave Mardon and Tim Benner
are welding down the repaired chock for the spring wire. Gene
Jackey and Clark Farnsworth continue working on
modifications to the davit from which the ladder will hang and making
modifications to the upper and lower platforms. They have been
preparing a new chock that will be needed on the port side. The new
hinges are in place and complete. Gus Negus, Karl Herchenroder,
Mike Dingmon and Gary Lubrano checked out the whaleboat
motor. Rocky Rockwood is in limbo until the ladder is
complete, so he’s gone back down to the engineroom cleaning
diesels. Bill Wetterau and his daughter Alyssa
continued their work disassembling, sandblasting and repainting the
fuel oil transfer valves in B-4. Rich Pavlovic has continued working
on the 20mm mounts on the fantail. “Boats” Haggart, Nelson
Potter, Paul Guarnieri and new volunteer Ed Laduke are
working on repairs to the gangway netting following repainting the
gangway. Barry Witte and Eric Altman finished the
seventh depth charge side projector trolley, and made a copy of the
plans for the STEWART. They continue to make progress on the B-3
distribution board. Ed Zajkowski has been working to obtain
the switchboard manuals from Westinghouse, and has come up with a lot
of valuable information. Gary Sheedy was called upon to repair
two of our operational reefers, and continues to make progress on the
reefer deck. But for me, the most satisfying project has been the
progress on the decks. Erik Collin completed repainting the
maindeck portside with non-skid and the chippers are now working the
fantail. Chris Fedden, Walt Stuart, Ron Mazure, Don Miller, Bill
and Alyssa Wetterau and a group of Navy NPTU students have all
been pecking away at the deck, much to the consternation of Heather
Maron and Frank Peter who are trying to maintain the
special collections and archives.
We held our spring
Board of Trustees meeting this June 17th,
and the one appointment of note is the election of volunteer Steve
Long to the Board of Trustees of the Destroyer Escort Historical
Museum. Steve, a long time tour guide and our regular master of
ceremonies at special events served on the USS BOTETOURT APA136 and
the USS SHADWELL LSD15. Steve brings a strong background in
non-profit organizations, having chaired several in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts.
And speaking of
fundraising, the long-awaited Hull Preservation Fund letter will be
coming to you sometime in July. The July edition of SIGNALS will
be devoted to this effort. The design printing
and mailing is being donated by one of our own, Gary
Dieckman, who owns Executive Printing and Direct Mail, Inc in
Elmsford, NY. Gary was an MR and Lithographer on USS GRAND CANYON
AD28, and is familiar to the Michigan Crew as he has been a work week
participant for several years, and is usually on the paint float
supervising the hull painting. Again, it’s a reminder of the good
fortune this project has enjoyed so far. It seems the right person
always walks down the gangway just when we need them the most.